December 13th, Arancina Day

“ Santa Lucia, I want bread, bread, help me and here I am ”

If you visit Palermo on December 13th with a mild temperature that can hover around 20 degrees, you might have the impression of finding yourself in a foggy location in northern Italy, but in fact what you will notice is that the fog does not depend on a classic meteorological phenomenon but rather a gastronomic one.

The city is in fact preparing to fry thousands of arancini of all types from classic to gourmet... all the Palermitans and tourists experience this festivity by tasting the wonderful fried rice balls filled with every ingredient. It is the day of frying par excellence, the scent of the crunchy breading of the arancini you will feel in the air....

But let's proceed in order and begin to understand the reason for all this folklore, so deeply felt by the people of Palermo:

In 1646 the city of Palermo was going through a terrible famine that was literally bringing the citizens to their knees. Many were dying of hunger and the population gathered in prayer to ask the Saints and God for help to overcome that crisis. On December 13, the day of St. Lucia, the miracle occurred: a ship loaded with cereals landed in the port of Palermo and, thanks to this, the city recovered. The population, destroyed by hunger, decided to immediately boil the wheat without working it, to feed themselves immediately.

Since that day, Palermo tradition dictates that on December 13th, to honor this historic moment, foods containing unprocessed cereals are eaten.
Breakfast is then served with cuccia, a sweet prepared with boiled wheat, and there is a competition to see who can eat the most arancini " accarne " (with meat) or " abburro " (with butter), a typical dish from the Palermo tradition.